PMD: A New Start Remake!
by Pokepika's Haunt
Summary: Corryn Blue was shy and timid to a fault, but accidents can change things... A Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fanfic, rated T for safety, more inside-
1. Chapter 1

A/N. Ok this is a remake of A New Start, because I reread it, and I suddenly got the urge for a hero/partner pairing. And in my mind, a Joltik and a Dewott would not make a very good pairing. Sorry about that, but please enjoy!

Summary: twelve year old Corryn was always the outcast, but one night changes everything when an accident lands our hero in the body of Pokémon-Human hybrid, a Joltik Gijinka. Can she find the confidence she lost when a whole world and its inhabitants need her to save it, or will she fail in the end?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon!**

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><p><strong>Accidents that change things<strong>

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><p>It was a dark, cloudy day as Corryn Blue, a twelve year old girl and a student at Accelia Academy slowly exited the school gates along with other students, the day finally at an end. She kept her head low, allowing for her uneven, dirty blonde hair to cover her face and by consequences, her expression. She gulped as flashes of the day's events seemed to smack her across the face, a constant and ever present reminder of how inadequate she seemed to be. She was bullied by her classmates, who even used her own name against her as a form of psychological weapon. Calling her Spider Girl and other names having to do with the creepy, eight-legged creatures her parents had innocently named her after. If only the others would just leave her alone. She was too timid and shy to stick up for herself after all.<p>

"Mom and dad are gonna kill me…" she said quietly as she pulled out the remains of what had been her glasses, shattered after being brutally shoved into a locker and having them knocked off her face, only for somebody to step on them. She couldn't tell her parents that, oh no, that would be a bad idea. She'd have to take the fall for something that was out of her control again, it seemed. Her parents couldn't afford to keep replacing them either. Today, and actually everyday was not her day it seemed.

She suddenly froze as she turned the corner, only for very familiar laughter to reach her ears. Looking up, Corryn gulped in fear as her eyes widened at what, or rather who she saw. Anabeth and her friends, Bethany and Lea, her main torturers in and out of school stood there chatting about lord knows what, laughing snidely at some poor fools misfortune. She looked for another way around them so she could get home without a problem, but by the time she found one, Anabel had spotted her.

"Hey Spider-Girl, where do you think you're going? Aren't you gonna say hi?" Anabel sauntered up to her, head held high as she flung her perfect brown hair behind her and sneered menacingly at the smaller, timid girl. Bethany and Lea laughed mockingly behind her as Corryn coward, slowly backing away.

"Hey, how about a Pokémon battle? Promise we'll leave you alone if you win." Bethany suggested with a cruel look on her face. Pokémon battles were all the rage at her school, and it made sense seeing as the whole school was constructed to teach its students how to function around Pokémon and the many jobs you could perform alongside them. Almost all the students had a Pokémon or would be getting one soon, so they liked to participate in Pokémon battles after school for kicks. The thing was Corryn didn't have a Pokémon, and her parents couldn't afford the time to get her one, and she definitely didn't have the confidence to go try and catch one on her own.

"Yeah Spider-Girl, let's go!" Anabeth agreed, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pokéball.

"B-b-b-b-bu-" she stuttered quietly before getting interrupted by Anabeth.

"But what?"

"I…I-I-I-"

"I I I, spit it out already you freak!" Corryn flinched back, squeaking in fear as tears threatened to flow from her eyes.

"That's enough Anabeth, leave her alone. You know she doesn't have any Pokémon on her at the moment, quick picking on her." Came the voice of Mathew, one of the popular boys in school. He was nice, and would occasionally stick up for Corryn when he was around and everyone was picking on her, but not all the time. He wasn't there to stick up for her.

"We weren't doing anything wrong, just trying to have a Pokémon battle. Guess we forgot, right girls?" Bethany and Lea nodded in agreement, glaring at Corryn when they thought nobody who cared would notice.

"Well if you're so eager to have a Pokémon battle, fine. Corryn, I'll let you borrow one of mine, okay?" Corryn panicked at that. It was nice of him to offer, but with all her paying attention in class, Corryn had never had a Pokémon battle before; she had no idea what she was doing. She'd just wind up losing in the end, and she knew it.

"B-but-" Mathew grinned good naturedly at her.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, here." He handed her a pokéball, pressing the center button so it would enlarge and she could throw it.

"Heh! Let's go! C'mon out my precious!" Anabeth threw the pokéball into the area in between them, a beam of light shooting out as the spherical container opened, revealing a Purrloin once it cleared out. Corryn gulped as she starred timidly at the Pokémon and quietly spoke,

"O-okay. Um-please come out…Uh-whoever you are." She gently threw the ball into the battlefield, releasing a familiar electric spider, Joltik.

"Heh, nice choice Mathew, that's a perfect fit for Corryn, I wonder if it's as big a chicken as she is." Anabeth placed a dainty finger on her chin, seeming to think about the traits of the bug Pokémon.

"Don't worry Corryn, you can do it!" Mathew cheered, deciding to observe from the sidelines along with Anabeth's friends.

"Ok ready my precious?" the Purrloin nodded, purring loudly to show its confidence as it got in a battle stance, "Use Scratch!" Corryn flinched as the cat Pokémon flashed from its original spot, appearing in front of the Joltik and scratching it with its claws, sending the poor bug-type flying backwards a bit.

"C'mon Corryn, you have to give it a command! Tell it to attack!" Mathew instructed causing Corryn to look at him for a bit before beginning to bite her nails as she went over attacks the Pokémon in front of her might know.

"Um…Okay…Uh…U-use um…Electroweb…please?" Corryn watched as the spider Pokémon looked at her, seeming to sweat drop at her behavior before using the named attack.

"Ha! Pathetic, Purrloin, my pretty, dodge!" the Purrloin didn't hesitate as it followed through the attack missing completely. "Now, use Nightslash!" Joltik went flying back once again, landing at Corryn's feet, said girl wilting as she was doing very badly at this.

"C'mon Corryn! Try another attack!" Mathew called out from the sidelines, while Anabeth's friends laughed at Corryn's lack of skill.

"Yeah Spider-Girl, try another attack." Anabeth goaded snidely, confidence all but oozing off of her, knowing she had the battle in the bag, her win assured. Corryn looked nervously between Mathew, his Joltik, and Anabeth, sparing a few glances to the Purrloin as well.

"Uh…Uh…I-…I can't do it!" Corryn finally caved, all confidence gone as she turned the other way took off across the street, dropping Joltik's pokéball as she stepped off the sidewalk.

"Corryn wait!" Mathew called as he watched the girl run off into an intersection. It was still raining badly, and vision was already poor, but Mathew and the girls saw the car coming as it accidently ran a red light.

"CORRYN!"

_**SCREEEEEE-CRASH!**_

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><p>Corryn couldn't see anything. It was dark, really, really dark. She wasn't sure if her eyes were opened or closed, and she wasn't sure where she was either. What had happened?<p>

_Do you want to live?_

**W-w-what?**

_Do you want to live? A second chance?_

**I-I don't understand…**

_There is a world that needs you…_

**Wait…W-what are you talking about?**

_Your destiny is awaiting…_

**I-I have a destiny?**

_Yes…Will you accept it?_

**I-I don't know…I-I guess…**

_Then let the journey begin…_

**Wait-w-what?**

_Be brave young one, for the road ahead of you is filled with strife…_

**Huh? W-wait…Wh-WAH!**

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><p>A young 15 year old with pure blonde hair paused as he looked toward the stormy skies.<p>

"Something is coming..."

In the forest just outside of town, a young girl, around the age of 14 with hair just as blonde as the boy's lay unconscious on the grassy floor.

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><p>AN. So what do you guys think? I hope you guys enjoyed that. Please review, and please no flames. See ya!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N. Ok, here's the second chapter! Enjoy!

TheBlackSeaReaper: Thanks for the review and glad you found it interesting! Please enjoy this chapter as well.

Summary: Corryn wakes up in a new body that is not her own, in a very unfamiliar place and two years older than she was originally! To make things even more overwhelming she's not even in her own world anymore! What the heck is going on? The quote "Toto, we're no longer in Kansas anymore…" seems to come to mind.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon!**

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><p><strong>Human no More!<strong>

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><p>Corryn groaned as she felt the light of the morning sun on her skin. Flinching as she attempted to sit up at the very least, she discovered that she was definitely not in her home town anymore, or anywhere close by. Her home town, which the school she attended had been named after, Accelia, had no forests nearby. Not within miles. The closest source of heavy vegetation was at the next town, which was a whole three days walk from where she lived, a small town by the name of Pinwheel Town. And this looked nothing like the forest there. For one, the trees were hundreds of times her own size.<p>

"W-where am I?" she looked at her surroundings some more, trying to find something, _anything, _that was familiar. Corryn sighed dejectedly as she just decided to walk straight ahead. If she got lucky, she might find a town or something.

Sometime later, and with little to no sign of the forest ever coming to an end and giving way to a clear view of any sort of civilization, Corryn finally gave up, deciding to sit down by a lake she had found.

"What am I going to do? I have no idea where I am, or where the nearest town is. I have no idea what I'm even doing here…" Corryn sighed again as she finally looked at her reflection in the lake. It took her a couple of minutes, but when she finally realized it, she was shocked. The girl looking back at her was definitely not her. Her hair was pure yellow, a true blue blonde, and she had blue eyes instead of her formerly icky brown eyes. She was a bit taller, and by her estimates two years older than she originally remembered herself being. She was wearing a different outfit also. Gone was her school uniform, and in its place was a slightly loose fitting, short sleeved, yellow shirt which stopped at around her mid-thigh with a bright blue vest over it. Underneath was a pair of dark blue capris. She had long since figured out she was wearing no shoes. She fingered the golden strands of her short hair, noticing that at the corners of her forehead were two blue barrette-like accessories. On her hands were a pair of blue, fingerless gloves.

"Ok…Now I'm officially freaked out. Not only am I in an unfamiliar forest, but I'm in a body that's not my own! Great…" Corryn gulped in dread of what that could mean as she tried to look for a reasonable explanation. "Maybe I'm in a dream!" She said hopefully. She pinched herself to wake up, but when she opened her eyes, she was still by the lake. "Ok…so this is not a dream, 'cause that sure hurt…" As she looked around she began to slowly whimper, tears threatening to fall as she became very scared.

"Well what do we have here…" Corryn looked back only to flinch and cower in fear as before her stood a girl, at least one year older, with purple hair and sharp green eyes. She had a snide look on her face as she slowly approached the timid girl. The girl stopped in front Corryn, inspecting her as if she were some item that may or may not prove to have some worth to it.

"Whatcha find Claire?" a voice, distinctly male in nature, asked from somewhere behind the girl. "Oh, who's this?" A boy asked as he came out from the trees, eyeing Corryn with a very bored look.

"Looks like a Joltik Gijinka; those are pretty rare around here. Wonder what she's doing in the forest." Came another voice, this one female. The first one, Claire, looked at the two before turning back to Corryn,

"Don't know Becky, but she's gonna regret it." She sneered mockingly at the girl as she looked down on her superiorly. "Listen up Cupcake, this is our hangout, so either you join us, or get!" She took a swipe at Corryn's face, barely missing her by inches. "Understand?" Claire asked in a sickeningly sweet voice as she showed Corryn her nails, which were sharpened to the point of being able to do harm. Corryn nodded as she understood the threat perfectly.

"Y-y-yes ma-" She screamed slightly as she felt a harsh hand come slapping across her face, hitting the ground hard as tears once again threatened to fall.

"Speak up you idiot!" Claire demanded as she looked down cruelly on the timid girl. "Hmph, pathetic." She spat at Corryn, sneering at the girl as if the mere sight of Corryn made her sick. Corryn broke into tears, trying to get up, only to get kicked viciously in the stomach and knocked back. Corryn groaned dejectedly as she tried to stand up again. She closed her eyes and flinched as she noticed Claire try and hit her again, but the blow never came.

"So Claire, still picking on those weaker than you?" Came an unfamiliar voice. Corryn looked up, tears still falling somewhat from her eyes. Her attention was drawn to a tree just behind her, in one of the higher branches sat a boy, about a year or two older than her. He looked similar to her, only his hair was shorter, and he was dressed in a yellow jacket with part of the upper arm showing, the rest of the sleeve starting from just above the elbow to his wrist. He was wearing blue fingerless gloves like her, and wore dark blue pants, the hem in a raggedy but neat looking mess, much like the hem of his jacket.

The boy spared a glance at Corryn only for a second, before returning his gaze to Claire and her little friends. "But then what do you expect from a Purrloin Gijinka, especially when it's one as foul as you are. You only pick on those who won't fight back or are weaker then you, so I have to wonder who's more pathetic between the two of you. The Joltik Gijinka, or you." Claire growled in frustration at the boy, before huffing in defeat and turning away from him. Apparently she thought this was a fight she couldn't win.

"Fine, we'll leave for now. But we'll be back! And when we do, you and the Joltik are gonna get it!" She looked down menacingly at Corryn, before turning and shoving past her friends and storming off. "C'mon Becky, Butch, we're leaving!" The two hurriedly followed after Claire, disappearing into the darkness of the surrounding forest. Corryn turned her attention to the boy who had rescued her, eyes widening as she saw him getting up to leave.

"Uh…Um…Please wait!" Corryn called out as loud as she dared to. The boy looked back at her, before jumping down right in front of her. He reached down and easily pulled her to her feet, before turning and walking into the forest as well. "Uh…" He paused short before turning back and looking at Corryn,

"C'mon, or would you rather stay here and wait for Claire and her cronies to come back?" Corryn jumped slightly, eyes widening before running to catch up to the strange boy.

"S-Sorry…And th-thanks f-for helping me…" Corryn said quietly, shuffling her feet around as she looked dejectedly at the ground.

"You're welcome. But you seriously need to stick up for yourself." The boy said rather bluntly. He watched, slightly surprised as Corryn wilted visibly in front of him. Sighing he reached over and grabbed her wrist causing her to look at him in shock as he dragged her with him through the forest.

"Um…M-my name's C-Corryn…" she tried introducing herself, speaking more quietly then even she herself would have preferred.

"That's a nice name. I'm Rai, a Galvantula Gijinka. Your evolved form, which makes me your senior in more than just age I guess."

"Um…I-I guess…Um…W-what's a Gijinka?" Corryn asked, remembering how both Claire and the boy in front of her had used the word. Rai looked at her in surprise before his face set back into a rather stoic expression as he began walking again, having stopped in his surprise at Corryn's question.

"I-I'm sorry, I-"

"A Gijinka is a Pokémon-Human hybrid. We all look like the humans did a long time ago, but we have the abilities and certain characteristics that the Pokémon had, such as their abilities and attacks." He explained, making it as clear as possible for Corryn, "You are a Joltik Gijinka, the 'Starter Form' for a Galvantula Gijinka, which is as I stated before, what I am." Corryn nodded as she understood most of it, except for "Starter Form", which was probably just a name for the stages of evolution that normal Pokémon went through.

"Um…W-Where are we?" she asked, wanting to get as much as she could cleared up.

"We're in Gigas Forest."

"W-Where's that-Oh!" She bumped into Rai as he had come to a sudden stop, flinching as he turned to face her.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Corryn nodded, not trusting her voice one bit to give a proper answer. Rai thought for a moment, "Ok, where are you from?" Corryn thought for a moment before answering rather quietly,

"Um…I-I…I'm from…" Her voice trailed off as she mumbled out the rest even quieter then she had started. Rai sighed as he realized how difficult getting a straight answer from Corryn would be.

"What was that? You need to speak louder…" Corryn gulped as she tried to speak a bit louder,

"I…I'm from Acce…" she failed to finish again, voice drifting off into a quiet whisper once again as she lost her nerve.

"What? Speak up, seriously." Corryn took a deep breath as she tried one more time.

"I'm from Accelia!" Corryn finally let out a relieved breathe of air, not used to speaking clearly. Rai smirked slightly as he gave Corryn who was half a foot shorter than him, a pat on the head.

"That's better. You need to talk more like that, without the stutter." His smirk turned into a small gentle smile as took Corryn's hand and continued to pull her toward where ever they were going. "But I've never heard of Accelia. That must be on some other continent or something. Anyways, you're in the Northern Continent. And before you ask, we're headed toward Ventura Town." He explained in a calm voice. From their they both fell into a shockingly comfortable silence.

Eventually the trees around them started becoming fewer and fewer in number. Finally they reached the end of the forest, and Corryn gaped in shock at the view.

"Well Corryn, welcome to Ventura Town." Rai smiled at her as he pointed to a town set up near a Cliff, giving it a beautiful view of the sunset behind it.

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><p>AN. There, done. Thanks for reading and I hope you guys liked it. Please review and no flames! See ya!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N. Ok, so here is the third chapter, enjoy!

To Dreamwritergoddess: Thanks and glad you love it, and see I'm not a meanie! I just run out of ideas…Enjoy!

Summary: As Corryn is taken on a tour of Ventura Town by Rai, she finds out that he is a part of an Exploration Team, Team Beta! He gives her the option of joining them, but that requires at least some confidence levels. Will Corryn join Team Beta and if she does, can she prove to be of some use, or will she be too scared to even try?

Note: The beginning of the chapter is mainly Rai dragging Corryn about the town and showing her the bank, storage, and shops.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon!**

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><p><strong>Team Beta<strong>

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><p>Ventura Town was a nice place. At least that was how it appeared to Corryn. It reminded her of her home town. It was a lot more peaceful and quiet however. There weren't any cars, so it was quieter, not as noisy. It appeared that transportation was made on foot mainly, but some people floated and flew to where they needed to go. Corryn even saw a couple of people teleport from one place to the next.<p>

"T-this seems like a nice place." Corryn said liking how peaceful it seemed to be. Rai nodded his head in agreement slightly as he agreed,

"Yep, it is normally. But even Ventura has its unpleasant moments, what with it having that place and all." Rai said before turning to face Corryn, who had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Um…You said Gijinka look like humans did long ago, what happened to them?" Rai stopped at the question before turning back to Corryn,

"Nobody knows…" Corryn couldn't help but wonder if there was something that Rai wasn't telling her. "But anyways, back to the grand tour! Let's see, important places…Important places…AH! I know, c'mon Corryn, this way!" Corryn soon found herself being dragged through the winding streets of the town before Rai finally came to a stop.

"This is Madame Audina's Boutique. It sales clothes and accessories for both men and women, no matter their age. The clothes here are really sturdy so it's also popular with Exploration Teams of all sorts." Rai explained, pointing to the store they had stopped in front of. It looked really fancy and expensive, but looking inside, you found that apparently anyone could afford clothes there. That's when something in Rai's explanation caught Corryn's attention.

"W-wait, what's a-" she didn't get to finish as Rai decided on their next destination.

When they finally stopped running, this time Corryn could tell where they were. It was a bank, and like the town they were in, it was huge.

"This is Treasure's Bank, if you ever find yourself with too much money on you, you can put it here for safe keeping." Corryn nodded.

"U-um…I-I was wondering…What is a-" Rai placed a gentle hand on Corryn's head, causing her to fall silent.

"I'll answer your questions after I've shown you two other shops, okay?" Corryn slowly nodded her head in agreement. "Good! Now c'mon." This time they started walking instead of running all over the place. Both shops weren't that far from where they had been, as it turned out to be.

"W-what is this place?" Rai nodded as he pointed at the building that she was asking about,

"That is the Kecko Brother's Shop. It's run by two Keckleon Gijinkas, both of which are brothers. The shop next door is actually a storage facility. Exploration teams use it to store important and valuable items, including supplies and stuff like that. It's run by an elderly woman that everybody calls Aunty Mira. She's really nice, just don't make her angry." Corryn nodded as she realized that they had finally finished the tour.

"Oh…Um…s-so can I ask my question finally?" Rai seemed to think for a minute before nodding his head in answer,

"Yep." He said, motioning for Corryn to follow him as the two began walking again.

"Uh…Um…Y-you mentioned something about exploration teams. W-what are those?" Corryn asked. Rai was silent for a couple of minutes before answering,

"They must not have had those where you come from, so I guess I'll explain it. An exploration team is a group of Gijinkas that have joined together to help others. They do missions and quest, arresting the bad guys as well as exploring unknown places and looking for treasure! You could say they are the heroes of our world." Rai began before continuing on in his explanation, "Exploration Teams are usually associated with a Guild, and there are tons of them all over the world…Except for maybe wherever you come from. Anyways, in return for doing missions and quests, such as helping those in need, and arresting rogue criminals that are too difficult for the police to capture on their own, we get rewarded. Either with money, or with valuable items, sometimes even food and supplies." Rai finished, keeping it as clear as he possibly could for the girl. Corryn nodded in understanding.

"I-Is there a guild here?" Rai nodded in answer,

"Yep. That's why things occasionally get out of hand in town. We sometimes draw unnecessary trouble. It's the Aura Guild, you want to see it?" Corryn nodded and allowed herself to be dragged toward the location of the guild by Rai.

"Ok Corryn, this is the Aura Guild. It's run by Master Aaron and his assistant, Miss Lilly." Corryn nodded, silently wondering how he knew so much about what Corryn was asking. Suddenly Corryn's attention was drawn to the area in front of them. Somebody had jumped down in front of them from the roof of the building, which was shaped like a Lucario's head. It was a girl, the same age as Rai, with pretty brown hair and bright blue eyes.

"Hey Rai, I see you're back. The others were wondering where you had gone…And who's this?" Corryn squeaked before hiding behind Rai, having been startled by the sudden appearance of the newcomer.

"Hey Sue. And this is Corryn. I found her in Gigas Forest being terrorized by Claire and her gang." The girl, Sue nodded as she walked a bit around Rai.

"Hey there Corryn. Nice to meet you, I'm Sue." Sue extended her hand in greeting as she introduced herself.

"I-I-I-I'm C…" Corryn didn't finish as her shyness beat her down once again, too timid and scared to properly greet someone. Sue blinked at Corryn before slowly letting her hand fall to her side.

"Sorry about that Sue. She's extremely shy. Trust me, it took me a while to just get her to tell me where she was from. It'll take a couple of tries to get her to tell you her name up front, and make no promises that she won't stutter. I've been with her all day, and I still haven't been able to get a sentence from her that was clear and easy to hear." He placed a gentle, reassuring hand on Corryn's head as Corryn finally found the courage to talk,

"I-I'm s-sorry…" Corryn looked pitifully at her own feet, too scared and ashamed to make eye contact with anyone at the moment. Rai gave a nervous chuckle before his expression set back into a rather calm expression.

"Well, I guess there's no helping that now is there. At least not right at this moment. It's long past getting late, and since you brought her here, I guess she's got nowhere to stay right? Heh, c'mon in then. I'm sure we can find some place to stay. In the meantime, you need to explain to the rest of Team Beta what the heck you were doing." She said in a rather authoritative voice.

"Yes ma'am." Rai responded with a mock salute before heading in ahead of the two girls.

"Well then, you are coming with me so we can get you a room. Let's go!" Sue said energetically as she grabbed Corryn's upper arm and dragged her into the building in front of them.

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><p>Rai walked down the hall, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket as he thought about his new friend, though he had to wonder if he could really call her that since he didn't really know a whole lot about her and they had only known each other for a day. He looked up slightly, noticing his destination and sighing as he turned into the room.<p>

"Rai! Boy where have you been? We've been looking for ya!" came the voice of one of his close friends, a Dewott Gijinka by the name of Keith.

"Sorry about that Keith. I went for a walk in Gigas Forest, and got kinda sidetracked when I happened upon Claire and her cronies picking on some poor Joltik Gijinka she happened upon." He explained, referring Corryn. Another Gijinka in the room spoke up once he finished his explanation.

"So I'm guessing you brought them here?" Rai nodded to the speaker, a Metagross Gijinka named Zane. Rai nodded his confirmation. "Do you think he can be of any help with us?" Rai seemed thoughtful for a moment before answering,

"Not sure, and she's a girl Zane, not a boy." A giggle could be heard in the back of the room, drawing all of their attention to a young girl with puffy white hair.

"Oh hey, I was wondering where you were Winny." Winny nodded as she responded, "Right here. So it's a girl eh? So you decided to play the ol' knight in shining armor?" Rai wrinkled his nose slightly before answering back.

"No. She just needed help, and some guidance, wherever she comes from, it's nothing like this place. She's far from home, that's for sure. And I bet all the money I have that she's got no idea how she got here, or how she's getting back." Zane nodded before speaking up again,

"You said you weren't sure. Why?" Rai shrugged a bit before answering back.

"She's got no confidence. She's timid, and horribly shy. She's got potential, but a low self-esteem and absolute-zero confidence is keeping it from coming out. I don't think she'd do well on the battlefield, at least until she's got some backbone in her. She's too scared to even stick up for herself in a fight." Rai explained, thinking about all the times in just one day alone that he had heard her stutter. Zane thought for a moment before responding,

"Well I guess we just have to bring it out. If there's hope for her, I see no reason to just let her go just like that. Besides, she could probably use the confidence boost." The others nodded in agreement, which resulted in Rai shrugging,

"Do whatever, just be careful, and don't expect her to do a whole lot at first. I don't think she'd do too well under pressure." Rai shrugged before deciding it was too late to be talking anymore about this. He turned to leave, not receiving in objections as the others also came to the same conclusion and got up.

"Let's talk about this more later. Good night guys." The others nodded in agreement as they dispersed to their respective rooms for the rest of the night. They'd discuss it tomorrow when they had some free time.

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><p>AN. I hope you guys liked it! And thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think, no flames please. See ya!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N. Ok! Here's the fourth chapter enjoy!

To Dreamwritergoddess: Thanks for the review and glad you liked it! Enjoy!

To Ferdawg: Thanks and glad you liked it so much! As for the fast updates, I was on a roll and just went with it! Anyways, you'll probably find out in the chapter. If I don't mention it, then PM me.

Summary: Corryn meets the rest of Team Beta and decides to join. But things go wrong quite quickly when Corryn gets separated from the others during a rock avalanche. Things get even more complicated when what should have been a simple attempt to regroup with the others results in the discovery of a group of bandits. Can Corryn handle this new turn of events long enough for the others to get there and help or is she finished before she even starts?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon!**

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><p><strong>Joining a Team and Missions!<strong>

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><p>Corryn groaned quietly as she rolled over, the morning sun shining brightly threw the window and all but blinding her as she opened her eyes. Rolling over so she could sit up, She gave a yawn as she sluggishly rubbed the sleep from her eyes, her appearance quite similar to a child's if one were to look at that very moment. She stretched tiredly as she stood from the bed. Taking a moment, she looked around the room she had been assigned last night to stay in by one of one of the Gijinka living in the guild. She absently wondered if anybody remembered that she was here, or if the Guild Master even knew about her. Deciding to sort everything out later, she made her way to the bathroom and began to get ready. She vacantly noted the sound of other Gijinkas moving about in the hallway as she began to run the bathwater.<p>

*_Knock Knock*_

"Hey Corryn, you up yet?" came the voice of Sue, a Furret Gijinka she had met last night and the one who had placed her in the room.

"Um…O-Over here." Corryn said quietly from near the window, having finished getting ready a few minutes earlier.

"Oh! There you are! Guild Master Aaron wanted to meet you, c'mon!"

"O-okay!" Corryn said quietly as she allowed Sue to drag her through the hallways of the guild, which was border lining a maze now that Corryn actually took the time to observe it more carefully.

* * *

><p>It took a couple of minutes, and too many twists and turns for Corryn to keep track of without becoming horribly confused, but finally Sue came to a stop in front of a big door. Sue was about to knock on the door when a voice echoed through before her knuckled could make contact with the nicely furnished wood.<p>

"The door is open Sue, so please come in." the voice, though muffled with the thickness of the door was distinctly male in nature, and by the tone, whoever the owner was was definitely older then Rai. Sue grinned wildly as she opened the door, dragging Corryn with her as she went inside.

Sitting in the room behind a desk was a tall man with dark navy blue hair and red eyes. He was wearing a blue suit and on his head was fedora like hat (think Riley from the video games and anime). Standing off to the side was a young woman with a gentle smile on her face. She had long, light green hair that fell to her butt and red eyes as well. She wore a plant like dress and a tiara was placed daintily on her head. To say she was pretty was understatement and she seemed to be the perfect counterpart to the serious air that came off the man.

"Good morning Guild Master Aaron." She said cheerily as she smiled at the man, now known as Aaron, the Guild Master and subsequent boss to all the Exploration Teams associated with it.

"Good morning Sue, I'm guessing this is the young Gijinka that Rai brought in last night." It wasn't a question but Sue still answered all the same.

"Yep! This is Corryn, but she's really shy, so don't expect too much of a greeting. At least not one you can hear easily." Sue gave a nervous smile as she gave Corryn a small push.

"H-hello…" Corryn said quietly as she shrunk in on herself slightly. The woman in the corner could be heard giggling slightly as she approached the two.

"Now now, no need to be shy little one. It's nice to meet you." Corryn couldn't help but blush slightly in embarrassment and shyness from the woman's kind treatment.

"Corryn, this is Miss Lilly, she's a Lilligant Gijinka. Master Aaron is a Lucario Gijinka." Sue spoke up, introducing the two to Corryn who simply nodded.

"Thank you for bringing her here Sue, but I have to ask."

"Oh yes? And you're welcome!"

"If you're here playing introducer, who's guarding the entrance?" Sue paled visibly at that question before swearing loudly, accidently startling Corryn in the process.

"Sorry about that Corryn!" she apologized quickly toward the shaken Gijinka as she turned to leave. "Shoot! I forgot! My apologies Master Aaron I'll get right on it!" and the hyperactive Gijinka was gone through the door.

"Don't mind Sue, she's a bit on the eccentric side but she's a good girl and a trustworthy and loyal friend. She's just a bit on the forgetful side, and gets carried away sometimes." Miss Lilly explained as she gently guided Corryn to a chair that was placed opposite to the guild master.

"Uh um…O-kay…" Corryn said, eyes drifting to her hands which were placed into her lap. She faintly heard Master Aaron chuckling at her actions from his seat.

"Well Miss Corryn, I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to meet you, yes?" Master Aaron began as he leaned back in his chair, perfectly relaxed.

"W-Well y-yes, a-a little…" Corryn said as her gaze drifted from her hands to a corner of the room. Master Aaron chuckled again as he then leaned onto the desk, fingers laced together as they obscured the lower half of his face.

"Now now, like Lilly-chan said, no need to be so shy." He began, "Now as for the reason why is simple, though I guess it could seem complicated if I don't phrase it right…Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"W-what i-is it?" Corryn asked as she attempted to make eye contact with the man, only to look back at her lap as she could see above the desk.

"The members of Team Beta have shown an interest in having you join their team." Corryn looked up with confusion at that bit of news,

"T-Team Beta?"

"Yes, I believe you are familiar with Rai?" Corryn nodded as Master Aaron began to explain exactly why he had wanted to talk to her…

* * *

><p>Rai was chatting with Zane over the available missions and quests for the day when he spotted Sue walking by.<p>

"Hey Sue! Wait up! I'll be back in a bit Zane okay?" he got a nod in return from the ever serious steel-type and ran to catch up with the speedy normal-type.

"Oh hey Rai, what's up?" Sue asked, pausing in her slight rush to get to her post.

"Have you seen Corryn at all today, there was something I wanted to ask her." Rai asked the energetic girl.

"Yeah, she's in the guild master's office, talking with Master Aaron. I'm the one who brought her there." Sue answered as she pointed toward the door she had just come from. "She should be out in a couple of minutes or so."

"Oh ok, thanks. Good luck with sentry duty today!" Sue grinned cockily as she responded back,

"Hey! I don't need luck! I'm the best there is at what I do!" Rai laughed as Sue ran off to attend to her duties.

"Uh um…H-hi Rai…" Rai jumped at the sound of Corryn voice, not having sensed her at all until just now. "S-sorry!" she apologized quickly,

"Shoot Corryn, no need to apologize but Lady Arcea and all her brothers and sisters! You near give me a heart attack! How'd you do that?" Rai asked as he turned to face the Gijinka.

"Um…I-I didn't meant to…I-it was an accident…" Corryn fell silent as Rai placed a calming hand on top of her head.

"Nice to see you getting along, but Rai, don't you and the rest of your team have something to ask Miss Corryn?" Master Aaron said as he approached the group.

"Oh yeah! Guys get over here, now!" Rai called as turned to face his friends.

"We're coming, we're coming. Sheesh, you don't have to scream across the guild Rai." Rai just huffed and tapped his foot impatiently while Corryn moved behind him slightly.

Suddenly there were two Gijinkas standing in front of them.

"Wait a minute…Where's Winn-" "Here I am!" "WAAAHH!" Corryn cried in shock as she accidently jumped into Rai's arms, resulting in him holding her up princess-style.

"O-oops…S-Sorry!" Corryn apologized immediately as Rai let her down, Winny rolling about on the floor from laughter.

"Winifred*, that wasn't nice." Master Aaron's calm voice came slicing through the Gijinka's joy, causing her to fall silent as she took on a sheepish look.

"My apologies Master Aaron, that was very insensitive of me." Winny said once she was standing at her full height and not laying on the floor any longer.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Raidon* and Miss Corryn." Corryn noticed Rai wince slightly but say nothing out of the corner of her eye.

"Sorry Rai, sorry Corryn. Didn't mean to scare you so bad."

"I-It's okay…"

"S'fine Winny, don't worry 'bout it. It was just a joke, you didn't mean any harm."

"Now that we have that out of the way, we've got something to ask you Miss Corryn."

"Um…O-okay…b-but I-I don't know who you are…S-sorry." This prompted a reaction from Rai who had been having a side conversation with the Gijinka known as Winny.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that! Guess I forgot to introduce everyone. Corryn, these are my childhood friends Zane, Winny, and Keith. They're a Metagross, Whimsicott, and Dewott Gijinka respectively." He said as he pointed to each Gijinka in return. "Together we make up Team Beta." Corryn nodded in greeting as the others waved.

"We were wondering if you might at least consider joining Team Beta, at least until you find your way home. It is to our understanding that you pretty far from wherever you come from." Zane said receiving a nod from Corryn in understanding.

"Uh-I-I know." She stuttered out, quickly explaining when she received shocked looks from them all, "M-Master Aaron t-told me about it."

"Ah! Figures. That guy's always going ahead and doing things without telling us. So what's your answer?"

"Uh um…"

"You don't have to answer right away if you don't want to." The others of Team Beta nodded in agreement with Zane as Corryn took an unnoticeable breathe, trying to steal her nerves so that she could answer.

"I-I want to join!" Rai gave a very childish grin as he cheered in victory, of what was lost to Corryn. Zane approached Corryn and extended his hand,

"Well then, welcome aboard Corryn. Let's do our best out there, all right?" Corryn gave a small smile as she nodded. What Master Aaron had said might have been right, maybe this would do her some good after all.

* * *

><p>Sometime later, Corryn and Team Beta found themselves in front of the mission board, which held all the quests and bounties for the day.<p>

"S-so t-this is w-where all the exploration t-teams get the jobs they t-take on?" Corryn asked, just to make sure she got everything down.

"Yep! Anna and her brother update it an hour before Morning Briefing, and then update it again around noon. The special request missions are put aside and delivered personally to the teams." Winny responded.

"W-what are s-special request missions?" Corryn asked hesitantly.

"They're missions that are given to specific teams. Sometimes a client might have a specific team they want to handle their request. When that happens either Anna or Robby will take it to the requested team."

"B-but what if they aren't available for a prolonged period of time?" Zane smiled at that question.

"Good question, and that is actually quite simple. Depending on the amount of time the team is absent, then either they will hold on to it, or it will be referred to the next best team."

"O-oh…"

"Don't worry Cory. We shouldn't have to deal with that just yet, and we're not about to put you in a tough spot on your very first mission." Keith spoke up suddenly, and quite loudly.

"First of all Keith, you're loud, quiet down a bit sheesh." Rai commented sticking up one finger before adding a second, " Second, Cory?"

"It's her nickname! You and Winny have them, why can't we nickname Corryn?"

"Uh…She barely knows you? And no offense to Corryn, but we barely know her." Winny suggested suddenly.

"Yeah, but Rai acts like he's known her quite a while! And besides, I still don't see the pro-"

"While you guys are arguing over whether or not you can give Corryn a nickname or not, why not ask her if she's okay with it?" They both froze at what Rai had said.

"Rai's right guys. While you two are arguing over pros and cons of nicknaming Corryn, you should probably ask her permission on whether she wants a nickname or not. She's the one who has to carry it after all."

"Heh, sorry Corryn. Guess we kinda forgot that…" Corryn, who had just been standing there till a moment ago, just nodded her head, accepting the apology before speaking up,

"Uh…w-well…I-I don't mind being given a nickname…A-and I-I guess Cory isn't so bad…I-I actually like it!" Corryn gave a small smile to show she meant it. Her answer caused Keith to brighten as he hugged Corryn in excitement.

"Yay! Then Cory it is!" Corryn squeaked as she felt her feet leave the ground, Keith having picked her up in his excitement.

"Ah! Keith put her down before you hurt her!"

"What? Oh sorry Cory, guess I got a bit carried away there."

"I-it's fine…" Corryn said accepting Keith's apology.

"Now that that whole mess is done and over with, Rai help me pick a decent job."

"Right. Let's see…How-about-this one!" Rai said after a bit, handing a request sheet to Zane.

"Hm…Doesn't seem too bad a job, just finding a lost item. Ok then, let's go guys. Winny, you and Keith mind going to get supplies?" Both nodded and took off, quick to complete their given task.

"We'll meet you at the crossroad!" Keith called back as he disappeared up the ladder that went to the upper floors.

"What do you want us to do Zane?" Zane was silent at Rai's question before turning his attention to Corryn.

"Well Rai, since Corryn has no experience battling, try teaching her some moves so she can at least defend herself. There's no way we're getting through this without running into some trouble." Rai nodded in confirmation.

"Right c'mon Cory, let's go!"

"O-okay!" Corryn said as Rai dragged her outside the guild.

"Remember to meet up at the Crossroads!" Corryn could hear Zane calling from behind them.

* * *

><p>The destination for the mission was a very scary place, at least in Corryn's opinion it was. It was a huge, rugged mountain range, surrounded by stormy clouds, but with no thunder or rain. Corryn took one sniff of the air though, and quickly assessed that it would be raining soon, making their trek through the mountain all that more difficult. Especially if by some bad string of luck, the path they were going to take became obscured by some sort of natural disaster. It would just be Corryn's luck for that happen.<p>

"Okay! Time to rock n' roll! Let's get this done and over with so we can get back." Keith called out excitedly as he marched on ahead of everybody.

"Uh um…Keith…Y-you shouldn't…Uh…"

"Keith! Listen to Cory! She's trying to tell you not to run on ahead!"

"And why not! C'mon it's an adventure!"

"Y-you could g-get h-hurt and-"

"Nonsense Cory! I'll be fine see?" Keith said confidently as he continued on.

"B-But K-Keith…W-Wait a m-minute…"

"See Cory? Nothing bad's gonna happen!" Corryn noticed that something was off with the ground ahead of Keith and with him just about to step on it and not listening to her warnings, she finally, and for once snapped.

"Keith WAIT! My LORD!" Corryn finally said, snatching Keith up and dropping him behind her.

"Cory! Why'd you-" Keith didn't finish as Corryn dropped a rock in the space he was about to step in and watched dumbfounded as the ground caved in suddenly.

"And that is why you listen when people try to tell you something Keith." Keith laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head, trying to see the bottom of the pit trap but not seeing anything.

"Sorry Cory, I guess I should've listened when you tried to warn me." Corryn just smiled gently, showing she had forgiven him.

"Now how about we all move on, _carefully_." Zane said as he took the lead, emphasizing the word 'carefully'. They all nodded and proceeded to follow the Gijinka.

* * *

><p>Corryn was fidgety as a chill tap-danced up and down her spine. They had been walking for a while now, and though there had been no sign of trouble so far Corryn couldn't help but feel like something bad was about to happen and soon. It only increased when Corryn spotted what was up ahead. The spacing between the walls became more narrow, not enough to that they would have to walk single or double file through, but still narrow enough that it would make a great area for an ambush.<p>

"Z-Zane…I-I'm sorry but…D-Do you really think that place is safe?"

"Jeez Cory, does everything scream dangerous to you?" Keith asked as he turned to face her.

"I-it's not that…But…"

"Keith, stop picking on her. Corryn has a right to be worried about what's up ahead. Paranoia or not, that place is idea for ambushes. We may not have run into trouble yet, but there is nothing saying that we won't later." Zane said, giving Keith, who Corryn had deduced was the reckless little brother figure in Team Beta, which was quickly starting to resemble a family to Corryn.

"Zane's right Keith." Rai and Winny said at the same time. If Keith was the reckless little brother, then both Rai and Winny were the fraternal twins, and Zane was either the big brother or father. Corryn still hadn't decided on which he was more akin to.

"So the morale of the story is to be extremely careful up ahead!" Winny said suddenly drawing everyone's attention to her. "Ok then! Let's go!" Winny grabbed hold of Corryn, and for a few seconds, Corryn had to question who was more reckless, Winny or Keith.

Winny finally stopped when they were close to being midway through, deciding to wait for the others. In that time, the bad feeling Corryn had been getting had gotten immensely worse. Corryn hesitantly walked up ahead gulping in fear as she noticed the path diverting a bit of ways ahead.

"Cory!" Corryn turned around to look at the others as they finally got close. It had begun to rain a while ago, but Corryn wasn't really paying attention to the weather. "You were warning us to be careful, and here you are wandering on ahead of us! Why I-"

"Cory, is something the matter?" Rai suddenly asked, cutting through Keith's rant. Corryn shook her head as they kept walking. She finally decided to voice her concerns when they reached the fork in the path when lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, causing a huge crashing sound and for the sky to light up.

* * *

><p>"<em>It's time…Rockslide!"<em>

* * *

><p>Corryn screamed in fear as lightning struck ground near the group, a little too close for comfort.<p>

"YIKES!"

"Cory wait! Come back here!" Rai called as he noticed Corryn run in the wrong direction. Suddenly the ground began shaking violently. Rai looked up, and his widened as he saw what was coming. He looked to where Corryn had gone and realized she was in the path of danger. A rockslide was headed in the direction of the other path, and Corryn was on it.

"Cory…CORY MOVE!" Rai called in panic as Corryn finally looked up only for her own eyes to widen at what she saw.

"Oh no…"

"CORRYN!"

* * *

><p>AN. CLIFFHANGER! Sorry but this is where I am stopping. I'll try and post up the next chapter soon, but what did you guys think? Please review and no flames! I hope you enjoyed the story and see ya!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N. Here's chapter 5, enjoy!

To Ferdawg: Thanks for reviewing and as for the moves she learned, well you will hopefully see in this chapter. And yes, Rai really likes Corryn. Thanks again for the review and enjoy!

Summary: Corryn finds herself separated from the rest of Team Beta after a rockslide during a storm nearly gets her killed. Now on her own she tries to join up with the others only to stumble upon a group of bandits. Could they be the reason behind the rockslide? And can she survive long enough for help to arrive?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

* * *

><p><strong>Rockslides and Bandits!<strong>

* * *

><p>Rai stared in shock at the sight before him. Where Corryn had now once stood was now a huge wall of fallen rocks and boulders. Rai felt sick to his stomach as he thought of whether or not Corryn was okay or not. He couldn't help but feel like it was his entire fault. This was supposed to be an easy first mission for Corryn, not a complete disaster, and as he stared at the wall he couldn't help but turn green. If Corryn was still alive it'd be very difficult to get to her, but Rai prayed to every deity he knew of that she was okay. This was just not his day.<p>

"Corryn!" Rai called hoping to get some sort of answer, anything at all to show that the young Gijinka was fine. He began to grimace when silence was all that met him as a response.

"Don't worry Rai, we'll find Corryn. I'm sure she's fine." Zane said, hoping to comfort him,

"How can you tell? You saw what happened! You and I both know the chances of that actually missing Corryn are practically nonexistent! How can you say that-Ah!" *_**SLAP**_* Rai felt his head turn involuntarily from the force of the hit. He blinked as he gently touched his cheek, somewhat in shock as Zane had never hit him before unless it was during training.

"Pull yourself together Rai! Just because it looks bad doesn't mean it really is! Even if the chances are small and it's extremely unlikely doesn't mean it's impossible! If there is a chance that Corryn survived then we just have to take it. Now let's go, the sooner we find Corryn the better. I don't want to take any more chance then we already have." Zane ordered as he turned to continue on.

"Zane!" He paused at Rai calling his name,

"Yeah?"

"Keith's crying again…" he said pointing toward said Gijinka who was all but balling his eyes out. "…And thanks for that…I kinda needed it."

"You're welcome, and sorry for hitting you." Rai just nodded in acceptance already deep in his own thoughts and not paying too much attention to anything else.

"WAAAH! CORY GOT CRUSHED!" Zane sighed as he walked up to Keith.

"Keith stop, we don't know for sure yet whether that happened or not. You have to be brave and hope for the best, understand?" Keith whimpered a bit but nodded his head.

"Yeah okay Zane…"

"Good, now let's go."

* * *

><p>Corryn groaned as she picked herself up from off the ground. Her head was pounding slightly, and she was faintly aware of some sort of liquid sliding down the right side of her face. She was pretty sure she had some sort of head injury. Her left eye hurt the most, and she couldn't open it for some odd reason, some sort of warm liquid was flowing from her eye like tears, the same that was flowing down the right side of her head; she didn't want to think about what it really was. She remembered that there had been a rockslide, and from the looks of it she was still alive, but that had been a bit too familiar to her. It was like a serious case of déjà vu, a very bad one at that. Corryn shook her head rapidly to banish those thoughts; she had better things to do at the moment. Like figuring out where the others were and what to do next.<p>

A quick once over had proven Corryn's worst fears right now. She was alone without any help; the others were probably on the other side of the wall behind her that the rockslide had created.

She couldn't see another way around, so it looked like she was stuck going further. She knew something like this was going to happen, why she couldn't have voiced it was a wonder. Of course she knew why. She was too scared of being seen, of being heard. Too timid and shy to speak up for herself, though she had proven twice now that if she really, really wanted to, she could.

This sucked…Big time.

"No point in just sitting here and waiting for someone to find me. I should get moving. Even if I'm not in the best condition to do so…" Corryn quietly and carefully began to walk on down the only path she could. With her vision cut in half, she would have a harder time then if she had the use of both eyes, she'd have to be extra careful now.

* * *

><p>Corryn peered down carefully over the ledge that she had found herself on. It was high enough that she could see everything that was going on down below her, but that didn't mean Corryn was fine with being up at this height.<p>

She leaned out a bit more to get a better look at what she was observing currently; a large group of people, all of which were dressed to blend in with the environment. Corryn had long since deduced that these guys were bandits. There were no records of any group of Gijinkas living in these mountains during any time of the year. But there were so many that Corryn was sure she couldn't handle them all on her own. She couldn't turn back though, as there had been no other route to take. How things had gotten so complicated on what should have been an easy mission was beyond Corryn's level of comprehension.

"Somebody must really hate me right now…"

"You're right about that I'm sure…Cause you got crappy luck girlie." Corryn gasped as she turned around quickly to face the speaker. Looming over her was a lean, muscular man with a rugged appearance. There was no doubt in Corryn's mind that if he so wished, he could snap her in two. "What's a chick like you doing here? A spy?" Corryn quickly went to try and correct him,

"N-no s-sir. I-I-I j-just-I was just…I-" The man growled before wrapping his hand around Corryn's neck, lifting her off the ground and near strangling her at the same time.

"Spit it out already you big wimp!" Corryn was crying as she tried to wiggle free of the man's iron grip. She had no such luck though and instead found herself being violently shaken by the brute.

"I-I'm so-"

"Shut up! You can clear your case with the boss. Heh, if you're lucky, maybe he'll leave something behind to be buried. Maybe..." With that he commenced to dragging Corryn through the bandit camp. The whole time Corryn couldn't help but think. '_Oh no…'_

* * *

><p>"Rai what's the matter? You find something?" Zane asked as they surveyed the scene before them. They had finally managed to get to the other side of the rock wall, but there was no sign of Corryn. Instead of panicking though, Zane ordered everybody to start searching the area for any sign of where Corryn might have gone if she was still alive. The last thing any of them wanted to do was dig up her corpse from the rock fall.<p>

"No not ye-"

"Guys! I found something!" Keith's voice came cutting through before Rai could finish answering.

"What?"

"Looks like blood. Corryn probably got hurt, but she's alive and walking, see?" Keith replied as he pointed toward a bloody trail that led farther up the path.

"Well at least we know she's alive!" Winny said as Rai stared off farther down the road,

"Yeah but she might not be for long if we don't hurry up and find her! C'mon-" *_zz__**ZZZT-CRASH* **_everybody looked up suddenly as a huge thunderbolt could be seen flashing through the sky in the distant. But it wasn't coming from above, it was coming from below.

"Wait a minute…Only an electric type could pull something like that off…Corryn!"

* * *

><p>"What's this Hari? A spy? Ha! She looks pretty sorry for a spy, but then a lot of them do these days!" shortly after being discovered by the brute now known as Hari, Corryn found herself cowering in front of a man twice her size. He was just a couple of inches short of being called a giant.<p>

"Yeah boss, found her lurking around the ridge trying to be sneaky or something. She's a big chicken though." They both chuckled mockingly while Corryn stayed as still and quiet as she possibly could. Silently she scolded herself about how this situation could have been prevented. She was still injured so there was very little chance that she could pull off a successful escape, even if she was at full strength she doubted she could pull it off.

"So what should we do with her? Eh Boss Yama?" Boss Yama seemed to pause at that, contemplating his options before a grin spread across his face, threatening to split it in half.

"Well here's what I'm thinking…You, you are a spy, no need to deny it, we already got you figured out. We'll pay you twice what you're making with whoever you're working for. Join us." The man seemed fully confident, as if what he was offering was the only sensible choice. "Choose carefully now, you could regret it later." The man definitely had a huge ego. In some foreign part of Corryn, she actually found the courage to think that if his ego was any bigger it wouldn't his already big head.

"Uh-W-well, y-you see…"

"Come now, speak up! Nobody's gonna bite, much. BAHAHAHAHA!" Corryn gulped as she attempted to speak up again, not finding Boss Yama's joke the least bit funny.

"I-I'm n-not a s-spy, I-I'm-AH!" Corryn blinked as her cheek began to sting. She was fighting back tears as Boss Yama spoke up again,

"Now Boss Yama doesn't like being lied to little girl…You be careful what you say next. It may be your last, little Gijinka." Boss Yama said threateningly, though he went unheard of by Corryn, who was having a seriously bad case of déjà vu, even more so than before. She had been in a situation like this before, and though the agitator had been a lot smaller than the big, brutish man before her, that didn't make it any less traumatizing.

"You heard Boss Yama! Quit lying! We know you're a spy! We may not know who sent you, but we know you're a spy. A pretty pathetic one but still a spy! Stop fooling around and give the boss his answer!" Hari demanded as he lifted Corryn from the ground by a chock-hold yet again. Corryn was still not listening however, retreating further and further into herself, seeming to try and find something, whatever had helped her deal with the situation that seemed so similar to this. Anything at all to make this a little less scary. Corryn was shaken from her thoughts though as she was, quite literally shaken violently by Hari, who had quickly established the fact that the concept of "being gentle" was quite foreign to him.

"I-I-"

"Well! Speak UP!"

"L-Let me…"

"I said speak. UP!" Hari proceeded to slam Corryn brutally into the ground. Corryn gasped as pain shook her body, mind barely teetering on consciousness. Right now, she was not afraid to admit she was scared. Oh no, she was beyond scared. She was absolutely terrified.

All beings, regardless of whether they are human or not, has what is known as a "fight or flight" response. When faced with a possibly life-threatening situation, one will either fight or fly. Corryn had until now run away with little thought on the consequences, but right now running wasn't an option she could see or find. As far as her subconscious was concerned, there was no route of escape. Either she fought back, or she died. Death was not an outcome it favored. At all.

"Let-LET GO!" Corryn screamed as her eyes dilated. She sparked only a little, before letting loose a huge bolt of electricity. Hari screamed in agony as voltage after voltage of electricity pumped its way through his body. The electricity finally died down and Hari dropped to the ground unconscious, the tent they weren't in burnt to a crisp from the heat that the huge amount of released electricity emitted.

Boss Yama stood shocked at the scene before him, his right hand man taken down in one hit, by a girl who had been too scared to stand up for herself not five seconds ago.

"Boss Yama!"

"Boss!"

"What the heck happened here?" Boss Yama quickly gathered his frayed nerves, or what was left of them, and commenced to getting his men settled down and back under control.

"Silence!" Boss Yama demanded loudly. He pointed to Corryn who was keeled over on her hands and knees but still conscious. "I want that Gijinka in a cage now! Hurry up you fool-" he didn't get to finish as Corryn let loose another bolt of electricity involuntarily, this time far more powerful than the first, and far, far less controlled.

"GAAAH!" Corryn cried out in pain as she lost control of her electric powers.

"WAH! HURRY YOU FOOLS! BEFORE SHE BLOWS US ALL UP!" His minions hesitated as they watched the flashing electricity with fear. It was starting to resemble a giant beam shooting straight into the sky and tearing the skies apart. Only a legendary could probably outmatch it.

"Corryn!" They minions turned at the sound of the voice. There stood Team Beta, a local exploration team allied with the Aura Guild which was run by the world renowned explorer Guild Master Aaron and his second-in-command Lilly.

The last thing any of the members of Team Beta had ever expected was to find a quite famous group of bandits hunkered down in these mountains, let alone to actually run into them on a simple find and retrieve mission.

"The Hariyama Bandits?" Winny said astounded at the sight before her.

"Blast it all, not only is Corryn losing control of her powers but we also have to deal with these guys…We don't have time for this! It's only a matter of time before she blows!"

"Zane, what should we do? Cory looks like she's hurting really bad!" Keith called worriedly, and true to what the young Gijinka had said, Corryn was screaming in pain as she seemed to try and fail and reigning in the rampant electricity.

"Hm…Maybe-"

"Zane! Let me handle Corryn, you guys deal with the bandits!"

"Rai, are you sure? I mean-" Rai only nodded as he jumped over the bandits heads, landing on the other side.

"So reckless! C'mon, let's get rid of these guys!" The remaining members of Team Beta nodded in agreement and commenced to attacking.

Meanwhile Rai found himself busy with the boss of the bandits, Big Brother Yama, or more commonly referred to as Boss Yama.

"Move Yama. I don't have time for you!" Yama just laughed as he grinned menacingly, glancing at the Gijinka behind him.

"Don't think I will, see, with all that power, that little Gijinka could become quite the monster when she evolves! Just think about it! There's no way I'm letting her slip through my fingers! She'd make a great asset to our operations." Rai's eyes widened before narrowing dangerously.

"I'm not letting that happen Yama! I'm taking you down here, you're not laying a finger on Corryn!"

"Well then I guess I'm going to have to change that now won't I?" Rai growled as he lunged at the bigger man, not at all hesitating to fry his brains out.

"And that's why you don't get in my way-"

"YAAAHH!" Rai turned with his eyes widened as he helplessly watched the amount of electricity being released increase, and now spread out. It was now wreaking havoc across the whole entire area, his own friends forced to dodge so they wouldn't get hit. He had to stop Corryn now, but he didn't want to hurt her. Of course, he doubted anything could hurt worse than what she was going through right now.

"Corryn!" Rai ran forward, forced to slow down as some bouts of electricity dug through the earth and nearly hit him. "Corryn! You have to stop! CORRYN!" No matter how much Rai called, it seemed Corryn couldn't hear him. Finally Rai decided to act.

He pushed through the electricity, allowing it to hit him and for his body to absorb some of it as well. When he was close enough, he finally grabbed hold of Corryn, scooping her up into his arms as he began to speak again.

"Corryn! It's okay! Everything's okay now! It's me Rai, we're all here!" Rai called as loudly as he could. It took a few moments but Corryn finally reacted,

"R-Rai?"

"Yeah, it's me Corryn. You're going to be okay now! We won't let anybody hurt you, I won't let anybody hurt you. So you can stop now, okay?" Finally the rampant electricity stopped as Corryn finally fell unconscious into Rai's arms, which were securely wrapped around her.

"I-I'm…Sorry…" she whispered as everything went black

"You don't need to apologize Corryn…It's okay, everything's okay now…I'm sorry we were late getting here." Rai tightened his hold around Corryn, teeth worrying his bottom lip as regret filled him. He should have been quicker, he shouldn't have taken his time getting here. Corryn wouldn't have gotten hurt if he hadn't been so late. "Corryn…I'm sorry…"

"Hahaha! Amazing! That girl's power is off the charts!" Rai's eyes widened slightly as he turned around, only to come face to face with one Big Brother Yama.

"What do you want? I thought I knocked you out already." Rai said coldly as he adjusted his hold on Corryn so that he was carrying her princess-style, her head resting against his chest.

"Why isn't it obvious? The girl of course! Hand over the Joltik Gijinka and nobody gets hurt!" Rai growled silently as his body began to spark visibly.

"Corryn's injured because of you…and you have the audacity to think that I'd just hand her over!" Rai growled as his eye's turned an icy blue that caused even his own teammates to flinch back in slight fear. "I got some extra electricity I need to get rid of…You'll do perfectly." The members of Team Beta watched in calmness as Rai fried Big Brother Yama to a crisp. If he was fried before, he was burnt and crispy now! Yama dropped to the floor groaning with a thud. There was no way he getting back up after that.

"That's what you get for messing with one of our own…" Rai said coolly as he joined the others, walking past the downed bandit leader and not sparring him even a side glance.

"Let's finish this mission and get back quickly. Corryn's gonna need medical attention, especially after what just happened. And I'm not about to lie and say you don't need it either. Besides, Master Aaron probably sensed what happened here, he's gonna wanna know exactly what happened."

"Right." They all agreed with a nod as they commenced to walking.

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><p>"<em>So that's the power she holds inside…No wonder <em>she _picked her as the hero this world needs to stop the oncoming tragedy…She's going to need to learn how to control all that immense power first though…"_

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><p>AN. Hope you guys liked it! Please review and thanks for reading! No flames and see ya!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N. I haven't updated in a while, but here it is! The sixth chapter enjoy!

To dreamwritergoddess: Thanks and yes I plan on making Rai and Corryn a couple. As for when it updated, it was around the same time you got the notification. I wanted to upload it the night before but the website wasn't letting me so I had to wait. Anyways, thanks again for the review and enjoy!

To Ferdawg: Thanks and glad you think so. I was worried I might have made her sound too powerful or something, cause I sometimes do that. Anyways, thanks for the review and enjoy!

To weirn018: Thanks and enjoy!

Summary: It's been a week since Corryn's first mission with Team Beta, and she can't help but doubt that she made the right decision when she said yes. And things only get worse when Claire shows up again to torment Corryn. Can Rai convince her to stay?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon!**

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><p><strong>Doubts and Problems!<strong>

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><p>Rai was walking through the halls of the guild, looking for the newest member of Team Beta, Corryn. She had been acting strange ever since she had regained consciousness. She had been even more introverted than normal; she wouldn't even talk to him. To say he wasn't worried about her would be a down right lie.<p>

"Hey Rai, lose something?" came the voice of a certain Furret Gijinka he knew. Sue came up to him, tilting her head in curiosity as she visibly waited for an answer. Rai thought it over for a moment, silently debating whether or not to answer before giving a heavy sigh and responding,

"More like someone. Have you seen Corryn at all today? I can't find her." Rai admitted as he gave another look around hoping to spot at least one small sign of the girl. He was expecting a negative response, only for his eyes to widen when Sue answered,

"Actually, I saw her leave the guild earlier this morning. From what I could tell she was headed for Gigas Forest. She looked pretty down, is something wrong?" Rai shook his head as he moved around Sue,

"That's what I'm hoping to figure out, thanks for the help Sue! See ya later!" Rai left, heading for the entrance in hopes of catching up to Corryn. He had a bad feeling that if he didn't talk to her soon, he might not see her again for a long time.

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><p>Corryn was walking through the woods, head hanging low as she sighed, depressed with the events of her first mission. Sure she was a rookie, and she wasn't expected to be absolutely perfect the first try, but as far as she was concerned, it had been an utter failure. Her carelessness had placed the others in danger, and she had nearly gotten herself killed. To add insult to injury, she had been unconscious for the remainder of the mission and had been of absolutely no help at all. Maybe Anabeth had been right when she had told her she was useless. She couldn't do anything right, she was a big fat chicken, an utter coward afraid of her own shadow. She couldn't scare a mouse even if she tried much less someone of her own size, or even bigger. She was pathetic, plain and simple…Maybe she wasn't cut out of the exploration business after all…<p>

Suddenly Corryn came to a stop as she finally realized where she was. It was the clearing where she had met Rai for the very first time. Remembering it caused her mind to stray a bit, wondering what Rai was doing right now. According to what Zane had said, Rai had risked a lot trying to rescue her from Boss Yama. Apparently the brutish Gijinka had wanted to use her as a weapon for his gang after witnessing her powers first hand. Rai had not taken too kindly to the information, even Zane himself was shocked at the Galvantula Gijinka's reaction, and he had known Rai since they were both kids. They were almost like brothers!

Corryn was shaken from her thoughts by the sound of a twig snapping somewhere behind her. She turned thinking it might be one of the members of Team Beta, but her luck was not that good apparently. There stood Claire in all her confidence, the exact opposite to Corryn in every single way. She reminded her so much of Anabel it was ridiculous. It looked like she didn't have her two friends with her today, but that didn't make Corryn feel any better.

"Well lookie what I found! If it isn't the little wimp!" Corryn gulped as Claire gave a harsh laugh, "HA! So you joined Team Beta huh? I gotta wonder. They must be really weak to even consider taking some weakling like you aboard. They ain't so great." Corryn immediately went on the defensive,

"H-Hey! T-Take that back! R-Rai and the others are great, a-and they're powerful, a-and really strong! They're way better then you!" Claire laughed at Corryn's pathetic attempt to stick up for her team. She suddenly gave a vicious smirk, the perfect thing to say to utterly crush the little weakling in front of her.

"Well, that may be, but I heard that you nearly blew them up on their last mission." Corryn flinched visibly at the mention of it, "Heh, looks like it's true. Ha! I'm shocked they kept you around. I would've dropped sorry butt the very second something like that happened. You're an embarrassment!" Corryn silently whimpered at the Purrloin Gijinka's harsh words causing Claire to break into a hearty laughter, enjoying making the spider like Gijinka in front of her feel like garbage.

"S-Shut up! Y-You don't kn-know what you're t-talking about!" Claire feel silent, before a low growl could be heard. Corryn gasped as she saw the look on Claire's face, and all she could do was turn and run as Claire gave hot pursuit, the enraged expression on her face promising nothing but pain as far as Corryn was concerned.

"Get back here and say that to my face you little-!" Claire hollered as she used Quick Attack to get closer to Corryn.

"H-HELP!"

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><p>Rai was running through the forest in search of his wayward friend when he heard it, a faint echo that sounded oddly familiar. He paused, falling silent as he listened for it again,<p>

"HELP!" Rai's eyes widened as he recognized the voice.

"CORRYN!" He took off running in the direction of it, afraid something might have happened to her again. He was in a clearing when he finally spotted Corryn, back up against a wall and cornered by a very familiar Gijinka, on he knew far too well for his own liking. _'Claire…'_ Rai thought with a growl as he took a step forward, preparing an attack. He froze when he heard Claire speak, her words shredding whatever confidence Corryn might have had left in herself,

"You're so pathetic! Team Beta doesn't even need you! This whole town, no this whole world doesn't need you! You're completely useless!" Rai was beginning to see a very bloody looking red as his anger rose, hearing Claire laugh only made it worse, "Oh come now, don't cry! You know what, let me do everybody a favor. I'll put you out of all of our miseries right now! Save you the trouble of doing it yourself." Claire said as she got closer to the trembling girl. She didn't even make a sound of protest as Claire continued to get closer an attack ready to finish her off.

Just as Claire was about to take a swing at Corryn, her hand was suddenly stopped. Rai faintly took notice of the sound of Corryn gasping in surprise. He'd talk to her in a bit, right now he needed to take care of a certain nuisance. Claire was going to regret what she had said.

"Claire, give me one good reason why I shouldn't harm you right now…" Rai's voice was cold as he glared at the girl, his grip gradually tightening on her wrist. Claire winced visibly in pain, any more pressure and Rai would break her wrist, and lord knows what else. If there was one thing she knew in all the years she had known him, it was that as much as she hated the guys guts, he was dang scary when pissed off.

"Well if it isn't the little hero? Come to rescue the wimpy princess?"

"Corryn isn't wimpy…" Rai growled out threateningly. Claire was silent for a moment, thinking of a way to get out of this when something flashed into her mind, a nostalgic feeling, warped a bit with how things were right now, that made her sick to her stomach. There really was an irony to this situation. After all, back when they were kids, Claire had often found herself in this very same situation, with the roles only slightly reversed. Rai was still playing the knight in shining armor, but Claire had been in Corryn's place, scared out of her mind and weak, and standing in her place was a bully long gone with the seasons off trying to make a name for himself somewhere. It really did make her sick, but as disgusted as she was with the memory, it was the perfect escape plan. It would also double as a weapon against the little princess. All she had to do was word it just right and the girl's confidence would be utterly destroyed.

"You know wimp, I used to be in the same exact position you are right now. Rai used to protect me too. Wanna know why? It's because I was weak! He love sit when he can play the hero plain and simple, you're nothing special sweetie. Just another damsel in distress to help boost his already big fat ego. Isn't that right, Rai?" Rai growled as he spoke up,

"You used to be my friend, then you went and let that Hydreigon Gijinka deceive you!"

"He didn't deceive me Rai, he made me see the light! He showed me what was really going on! I was the fool back then not anymore! And let me tell you now Rai, you and the little princess is in for a wakeup call! Not everything goes your way Rai! And I'll make sure you see it personally!" Claire snatched her wrist from Rai's grip then threw down a Luminous Orb, disappearing in a flash of light, leaving two Gijinka's blinded in her wake.

When they got their vision back, Rai silently cursed to himself before whispering out,

"You still are Claire, you still are…" Rai drew his attention back to Corryn, who still had her back pressed against the Cliffside she had been cornered against when Claire had chased her here. She wasn't looking at him. In fact, she didn't seem to be looking anywhere in particular. That's when he realized why. Claire had messed with her head in more ways than one, and poor Corryn was reeling now, trying to sort through all the information she was fed. If Rai didn't say something soon, Corryn would get the wrong impression because of Claire's messed up views on life. "Corryn…"

"Just tell me one thing…" Corryn suddenly snapped at him when he tried to talk to her. Rai flinched a bit before sighing,

"Anything…"

"Was what that Claire girl said true?"

"Partly…"

"What do you mean by partly?"

"Corryn…"

"Answer me Rai, what do you mean…"

"It's true that Claire and I were once friends when we were little, heck we were best friends! She was a like a sister to me! ...But then-"

"But then what?"

"Then Hydra, a powerful Hydreigon Gijinka got to her, and filled her head with a bunch of nonsense. She befriended the wrong Gijinka's and started seeing me as the enemy. She said that I was purposely keeping her weak. We haven't seen eye to eye since. And the only time we talk now is when we run into each other by accident, and usually it's with our fists…I've tried talking sense into her, but she won't listen to me anymore." Corryn was silent for a moment, "Corryn listen, I don't protect because it makes me feel better about myself, I protect you because I want to, because you're my friend. Just like I protected Claire back then." Rai was about to say more when Corryn tackled him slightly. He was unsure of what to do, until he realized that she was crying. Carefully, Rai wrapped his arms around the younger Gijinka in a hug, hoping to comfort her at least a little.

"Corryn, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about…" Rai tried, gently prying Corryn from him as he tried to look her in the eye.

"W-What?" Corryn asked, trying to wipe away the tears from her eyes.

"You've been acting strange ever since you regained consciousness a couple of days ago. What's the matter?" Rai felt rather then saw Corryn flinch as she tried to come up with a response.

"I-I think…I-I'm g-going to quit Team Beta…" Rai's eyes widened as his grip tightened slightly,

"What? Why?" he asked in shock. It looked like he had been right about not seeing Corryn again if he hadn't have come right then.

"R-Rai…I-I just can't…Claire was right…I'm pathetic…Claire and Anabeth both…They were both right…I can't do anything right…Maybe you guys' would be better off without me around…" Rai shook his head as he began to speak,

"Corryn! That's not true we-"

"Don't lie! Let's face it! I'm a coward, completely useless in a fight! I nearly you all killed in the last mission! And I only just got started! I-I just need to disappear…E-everybody would be better off…I-If I just disappeared…" Corryn's gaze was now turned to the ground, she couldn't even look Rai in the eye any longer! Rai gritted his teeth in frustration and anger before shaking Corryn slightly to get her attention. He'd fix this, Corryn was NOT useless, or weak, or a coward! And she needed to know this now, before something bad happened.

"Corryn! None of that is true and you know it!"

"And how in the world would you know?" Corryn was crying again, Rai hated it when Corryn cried…Absolutely hated it.

"Corryn, listen to me! Please, you are not a coward, you aren't weak. Despite what people have told you, you are strong. Corryn look at me." Rai gently placed a finger under Corryn's chin, causing her to tilt her head up so she was forced to make eye contact with him. "Corryn, you're actually really brave you know that? Because guess what?"

"W-what?"

"True bravery comes from being able to face your fears, and go on despite of them. And this is between just you and me, I'll tell you a secret."

"W-what is it?"

"Heh, you may be afraid of your own shadow. But I'm afraid of the dark; I can't sleep without a nightlight. And I still check under my bed for monsters every once in a while…" He smiled when he heard Corryn giggle, it really was a ridiculous fear in hindsight but it was true.

"R-really?" Rai nodded in confirmation before continuing,

"Corryn, everybody has fears, it's just some have more than others. But you can't spend your whole life running from them. And, here's another secret. It takes a lot more courage to run from a fight then it does to actually participate. Did you know that?" Corryn shook her head in response. "Heh, so see Corryn, we need you…I need you, so don't leave, okay?" he asked,

"Ok." She responded as she wiped her nose on the sleeve of her shirt. As they both stood there, Corryn shuffled awkwardly, the silence suddenly becoming very uncomfortable in a matter of seconds. Rai was silent as he contemplated how to break the tension that was suddenly building up. Corryn took care of that for him though when she made a ridiculously funny face, causing them both to burst into all out laughter.

"C'mon Cory, let's go home…" Rai said as Corryn nodded in confirmation. As they exited the clearing, Rai paused, a strange urge coming over him suddenly. He bent down and gently kissed Corryn on the forehead, pulling up the collar of his shirt to hide the blush as he took hold of Corryn's hand and began to guide her through the forest.

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><p>Rai smiled as he thought to himself. Corryn was staying, and while Claire had done a lot of damage, things were for the most part fixed for now, not completely patched up though. And then there was Corryn's past. That really concerned Rai, and who was this Anabeth person she had mentioned? Then there was the dark expression on her face. With such a look on her face, Rai had to wonder secretly, if Corryn had really come here against her will, or if she had actually run away from home. Was it really that bad there, or was he missing a piece to the story?<p>

Rai allowed his mind to wander as they continued to walk some more. There were more questions than answers popping up right now, and with Corryn not telling him everything, he couldn't tell anything. He could assume things and speculate, but Rai did not make assumptions without solid evidence that could not be disputed no matter how hard he tried. But with Corryn keeping secrets like she was, that was all he could do. Things were getting complicated, but then, Rai realized shortly after the thought, as long as it was Corryn, he didn't mind not knowing a lot, as long as she was there and by his side.

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><p>AN. I hope you guys liked the chapter, and Sorry if things turned out a little confusing. Anyways, thanks for reading and please review, but NO FLAMES!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N. Here's chapter 7, thanks for the reviews guys, and I really want thank you all for reading! Enjoy!

To dreamwritergoddess: Thanks for the review and you're right, Claire and her "friends" are my version of Team Meanies and Team Skull in the actual games. A team who constantly gets in the way and is just there to annoy people. Or in this case, bully poor Corryn. Anyways thanks again for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

To Ferdawg: Thanks and enjoy!

Summary: While out shopping with Rai, Corryn meets Sammie and Cat, two very strange but interesting kids. All is not well however when Corryn finds out that they may have a slight problem with some rogue Gijinka, can Corryn help them or has she bitten off more than she can chew.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon!**

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><p><strong>A Friend in Need!<strong>

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><p>The town was bustling with business, the sun high in the sky as it warmed the Gijinkas below. Rai walked through the masses; Corryn not far behind him as they went about doing the shopping Zane had assigned them to earlier that day. The only reason it had taken so long to get there was because Rai had gotten distracted on their way here. Corryn silently swore in her mind that he had been doing it on purpose the whole entire time. After all, he had fought and argued with Zane over it for an hour and a half, not at all keen on the idea. Apparently the very concept of spending hours roaming through busy streets when you could be spending that valuable time training to get stronger didn't quite make sense in his mind. It had been Corryn's shy agreement and statement that she didn't mind going by herself that had finally gotten Rai to agree to go.<p>

"So what are we supposed to be getting again?" Rai asked as he paused to turn and face his fellow Gijinka. Corryn shrugged her shoulders a bit as she answered in a rare sort of impulse came over her,

"Supplies." She stated simply, her expression a gentle smile. She couldn't help but notice that ever since a couple of days ago, she had been stuttering a bit less than she used to. The thought made her happy on the inside.

"Haha very funny." Was Rai's equally sarcastic reply as he placed his hands on his hips, an exasperated look on his face, "I didn't think you had a sarcastic streak in you Cory?" said Gijinka giggled slightly as she responded back,

"Heh, I g-guess there are a lot of things you don't know about me." _'Like the fact that I was once human…' _she added on silently in her thoughts, hiding the solemn feelings behind a smile. Rai gave her an odd look before finally turning away from her,

"Whatever, but seriously, what were we supposed to be getting again? Did Zane tell you?" Rai asked as he began walking again. Corryn giggled slightly before pulling a small piece of paper from a pocket in the jacket she was wearing today.

"Y-yeah. H-Here you go." She handed the list over to Rai who gave a once over before looking back to where he was walking. He paused when a specific shop caught his attention,

"Oh hey, there's the Kecko Brother's Shop, perfect! C'mon Cory, let's go." Corryn nodded as she followed Rai into the store. They were automatically greeted by the two Kecko Brothers, who Corryn herself had yet to meet.

"Hello, and good afternoon. Welcome to the Kecko Brothers' Shop!" chorused a couple of slightly high-pitched male voices. "How may we help you today?" Corryn looked past Rai, who had been blocking her view at that point, wanting to see the owners of the small supply shop. Sitting behind the counter were two male Gijinkas that looked oddly alike but similar all at the same time. While they had the same faces and basically the same body structure, one had purple hair with green streaks; the other one's hair was green with yellow streaks. _'They're twins…' _Corryn absently thought as Rai continued to walk toward the counter.

"Hey there Gecko, Lecko! Haven't seen you two in a while." Rai greeted giving a wave as he silently browsed the contents of the nearby shelves.

"Well if it isn't Rai! How you been doing lately?" one of the brothers responded returning the friendly gesture. The other one soon spoke up as well, "You know, you don't usually come here, what's the occasion?"

"Ah fine. And I'm just here to do a little shopping."

"Ah I see, glad to hear it. But let me guess. Zane ordered you to the shopping this time around."

"Ha! Bet you put up quite a fight with that one, normally it's Winny and Keith, never you." Rai grimaced before shaking his head, waving his hand in a gesture signifying he'd rather not talk about it.

"And who's this little lady here, your girlfriend?" that last question had both Gijinkas' faces going red Corryn turning into a stuttering mess while Rai was fighting for a good response,

"Sh-She's not my girlfriend! We're just friends!"

"Yeah, for now…" both brothers laughed as Rai grumbled,

"Oh shut up you!"

"Haha! We're sorry Rai, but seriously, you made that one too easy. So are you gonna introduce us to her or not?" Rai nodded as he turned to face Corryn slightly, wrapping his arm around her as he pushed her slightly forward and closer to the two brothers.

"S'okay. And this is Corryn, she's the newest member of Team Beta, a bit on the shy side, but she's getting better. She still stutters a lot though." He laughed, grimacing slightly when Corryn elbowed in the side. "Cory, this is Gecko," Rai pointed to the one with green hair, "-and the other one is Lecko." He pointed to the one with purple hair. Corryn politely bowed as she stuttered out a greeting,

"H-Hello, and it's very n-nice to meet you two."

"Ah, and such manners! The exact opposite of you Rai." They said jokingly as Gecko shook Corryn's hand.

"Hey!" Rai replied in indignation before allowing his shoulders to slump down in defeat while the two brothers laughed, Corryn adding insult to injury by giggling slightly as well. She found their interactions very cute and Rai's reactions were just plain amusing. "Ah I give up, so anyways. Here's the list Zane gave us. You think you got any of this stuff in store right now…" As Rai and the two brothers got down to business Corryn decided to explore a bit more outside.

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><p>Corryn was currently standing in front of a stall selling pastries, surveying the contents while a Flareon Gijinka waited patiently for her to choose what she wanted. It seemed Rai would be taking a lot longer than was expected, most likely buying stuff they didn't really need along with what they had been sent to get. Zane had given her money before they left, just in case she got hungry while out shopping with the stubborn Gijinka. He had predicted that Rai would take his sweet time going about the task, and apparently he knew the other Gijinka a bit too well. She finally pointed toward a big, buttery roll of bread and the fire-type went about completing the order.<p>

Just as she was about to pay for the roll she had ordered, two small children ran into her, accidently knocking her to the ground.

"O-Oops…S-Sorry lady!" one of them apologized, bowing her head heavily once she was standing. Corryn blinked a bit, as the other child stood up as well,

"Ah yeah! We're really sorry for bumping into you." The other one, a young boy slightly older then the first, followed up shortly after, also bowing his head.

"I-It's fine but why were you two running?" Corryn looked at the two children as they seemed to think of an answer.

"We were headed for the park. Again, we're sorry Miss for running into you like that. My name's Sammie, and this is my friend Poppy." Poppy nodded as she added in their ages,

"Yeah, I'm four, and Sammie's six years old…We're Lillipup Gijinka! Oh, but we're not brother and sister though…" Poppy seemed disappointed at that fact, and Corryn couldn't help but smile at their closeness.

"I-It's nice to meet you Sammie, Poppy. M-My names Corryn." Corryn nodded to the two as she also stood up, brushing the dirt and dust off of her clothes before returning her attention back to the children. Just as she was about to speak up again, her attention was drawn to the area behind them, a group of brutish leaking Gijinka were running in their direction yelling and screaming.

"HEY YOU LITTLE BRATS! GET BACK HERE!" the children's eyes widened as they turned to look at the group, before looking at each other,

"Uh-oh…" they both said at the same time before Sammie grabbed hold of both Corryn and Poppy's hand. "C'mon!" He dragged both of them through the streets, Corryn not really resisting because of her confusion over the situation.

"Oh my!" was all Corryn could say as they disappeared into the crowd that had been behind her.

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><p>Sometime later, Rai finally came out of the store, and looked around in confusion when he could see neither hide nor hair of his companion. He had seen the younger Gijinka leave the store and walk across the street toward Miss Flare's bakery, but after that he had stopped paying attention to her and focused more on his task. Where had she gone off to?<p>

"Maybe she's back at the guild. Probably got bored of waiting for me…But that really doesn't seem like Cory in hindsight…Oh well, it wouldn't hurt to check, and I do need to get this stuff back anyways. I just hope nothing bad happened to her." Rai walked towards the direction of the guild intent on getting back home before nightfall, the sun was already setting, maybe he shouldn't have taken so long in this endeavor after all.

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><p>AN. So yeah, I know it's rather short. I'm really sorry about that. Please forgive me, I'll try and make the next chapter longer. Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please review, and NO FLAMES! See ya!


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